The dog handlers showed up at 4 p.m. Wednesday up for a training session inside the abandoned Lakeshore Heights Nursing Home when they discovered two men and a woman dismantling the building's copper pipes and wiring, Sargent said.

When the officers arrived, the three dropped their tools and ran.

That was their second mistake.

"For anyone to try to run from a whole unit of canines, it's just a no-win situation," Sargent said.

The woman, Pamela Puckett, 37, quickly surrendered. One man, Paul Perry, 39, got a dog bite just below the buttocks before he was arrested, authorities said.

The second man, Marc Black, 18, was tracked to a trash bin behind a nearby convenience store.

Perry, a Gainesville resident, and Puckett and Black, who live in Braselton, were each charged with burglary, Sargent said. Perry and Black also face misdemeanor obstruction charges. Perry was treated at Northeast Georgia Medical Center for a superficial bite wound, Sargent said.

Police don't know whether the three didn't see the dog training signs or just ignored them.

"It's not like it was a secret," Sargent said. "I guess someone who is that determined to steal something might not pay attention."